


Landing

by MiniMax



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Rvb Happy Hour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 15:02:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6013126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniMax/pseuds/MiniMax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Falguni had never been particularly smart, which is fine, because <em>Jensen</em>, well, Jensen <em>was</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Landing

Falguni was never any good at school. Like, the smart stuff.

Wait, back up.

Falguni was never any good at school, but it’s also fair to point out, that she never really had a chance to be good at school in the first place.

What with it being bombed to bits and all.

Although actually;

There had been this moment, moving into secondary, that she had been taking, among other courses, art and science and history. They had been talking about the... Resistance? Reticence? Renaissance? That one, that’s the word. They were learning about the Renaissance. It’s possible the teachers had it planned or something, but all at once, in all these different classes, she had noticed they were all talking about the same things. It had been a weird revelation. This big map had clicked into existence in her mind and she saw that there were these connections between all these random things. If you had asked her a week prior, she would have said it was all pointless and boring, but for a very brief moment she had been captivated by the things she was learning.

Then, yeah. The school was leveled, along with half the surrounding neighborhood, including her home where her Maji had been watching her baby brother. He had caught a nasty cold, and she had escaped his snotty face at her friend’s house.

Which was neither here nor there.

Point was, that while Falguni wasn’t particularly smart, _Jensen_ , well, Jensen _was_.

She had known Jensen before the bombs were dropped. They weren't friends or anything, in part because Jensen was two grades behind and in another because their interests were so different. 

She has this really vivid memory of Jensen from when the school was still standing. She hadn’t noticed her at first, occupied as she was with setting up the net, but the sound of a squeaking sneaker caught her attention and she had looked up.

The light had cut through the gym windows strangely, and landed on Jensen sort of from the side and sort of from behind. Her hair had glowed in this really pretty red halo, and even from where she was standing at half court she had been able to see the green of her eyes. Her breath had caught in her chest real hard. It had been a weird feeling, and took a long time for her to figure out what it meant, so at the time, she had simply stared.

For way. Too. Long.

Understandably, this had made Jensen flustered and she had stepped back, away from the light, which left her hair a brown mess of curls and eyes a darker mix of hazel. All Falguni had wanted to do was call her back into the light and study how and where those colors had come from.

She can’t remember why Jensen was there, or what they had said to each other, just that when Jensen had tripped into the light, Falguni had been introduced to a sight she wished she could share with everyone who dared to look down their nose at Jensen.

Which was how, years later, she found herself standing under the scalding water, in the rebel’s locker room, fighting to let go of the twisting anger in her chest. It’s possible that she may have bribed some of her squad mates for their hot water time, but if they weren’t saying, then she wasn’t telling. The sheer number of shitty rumors going around about Jensen were snapping at her last nerve. Anyone would have been happy to part with their time, if only to get away from her. It was the simple truth.

“I’m sorry. Falguni.”

Falguni straightened, craning her head over the shower stall, squinting. _Fuck_ , it was Jensen. And, _fuck_ , where was that light coming from? Jensen’s curls were red and steadily growing in the steam of the room. It made her chest ache, though these days, she no longer had to wonder what it meant. 

“Sorry for what?” she managed to get out. Her voice was very casual and put together and she congratulated herself.

“I’m sorry you didn’t make Lieutenant.” Jensen sighed and leaned back against the lockers keeping her eyes as far from the showers as she could. “It should have been you. You’re the strongest person in the squad.”

She wasn’t wrong. Falguni turned that thought over as she squeezed the last of the shampoo from the rope of her hair. She _was_ physically the strongest person on the squad; she could give some of the boy’s squads a run for their money when it came to endurance. 

“The Captain said he only picked me because I made him the least nervous,” Jensen continued with a distinct tone of bitterness, gesturing with clear disgust to her face, drawing her lips back to show off her braces. “I mean, I get it, of course _you’re_ distracting, but I just wish he hadn’t broadcasted all over _Basebook_ that he can only be around me cause I’m ugly.”

Falguni grimaced, turning the water off, not sure how to respond. There were so many things wrong with what Jensen was saying, things she didn’t know how to respond to without letting her own secrets go and she...

_Wait..._

“Distracting? You think I’m distracting?” A huge grin split her face, and before her scrambling brain could keep up and scream, _no, wait, don’t do it,_ she had pulled the shower curtain aside, draped an arm dramatically over the shower wall, and struck a lascivious pose, hand dragging up her thigh. She dipped her head, lowered her voice, and fluttered her eye lashes. “How distracting, exactly?”

It shouldn’t have hurt that Jensen shrieked and covered her eyes, but it kinda did. Falguni dropped the pose, but didn’t bother to duck away, instead dragging her long hair over her shoulder to wring the excess water. If she was going to make a fool of herself, she was going to stick it out. She ignored the tumble of thoughts in her head wailing about stupid moves and thinking before acting and _how do you ever think you are ever going get Jensen’s attention if you keep acting like a fool?!_ The last, in particular, had the distinct tone of her Maji.

“Here!” 

Falguni looked up to find Jensen in front of her, arm extended, towel in hand, head turned away. She took it, thinking. Not for the first time, wished she was better with words. At the rate she was going, _Palomo_ was going to find the courage to make a move and the thought of that twiggy wise-cracker having an opportunity with Jensen made her uncomfortable. More than, honestly. She shook her head. Priorities. Jensen was upset, and the fact that she had come to Falguni seeking assurance, had sparked hope in her chest. So, back to finding words.

To buy herself time, she made a production of toweling dry before wrapping herself up. Jensen was being exceedingly polite by keeping her gaze averted; Jensen had handed her a hair towel by mistake so the whole ensemble fell scandalously short. She briefly entertained the notion of embarrassing Jensen further, but quelled it. Jensen didn’t respond very well to teasing. Which, hmm...

“Hey,” she said slowly. “Have you ever noticed that you and the Captain look alike?”

Jensen actually turned to look up at her. “What?”

“Yeah!” Falguni nodded to herself, as her thoughts clicked into place. She made her way over to the benches, settled down and patted the space next to her. “Sit. And also think about it. You both have those ridiculous red curls, freckles, and even the same eyes. And while I’ve never seen it, I bet you _anything_ , that he burns in the sun as easily as you do, what with you both being so unbelievably white.”

“My hair’s not red,” she mumbled. “And what’s your point?”

“My point,” Falguni answered, “is that you probably remind him of his sister or _a_ sister. I think the way he acts around women has less to do with sexual intimidation and more to do with sisterly harassment. Like, I’ve never seen him _ogling_ any of us, or any ladies at all for that matter, not the way Felix does. He just doesn’t meet our eyes and gets flustered when we giggle at him. All the stuttering and fumbling around? Classic symptoms of Big Sister Torture.”

“What makes you think that?” Jensen finally asks.

Falguni leaned forward to pluck lotion from her open locker, shrugging and fiddling with the lid. 

“Rudra.”

“Oh, I’m-”

“No, it’s fine. Well, I mean... but that’s how I _know_. I managed to terrify Rudra so throughly that he never could look any of our Aunties in the eye for fear of pinched cheeks and high pitched cooing. I may have even made him play dress up with me for far longer than strictly acceptable, though I swear he liked the purple sparkly tutu.” She stretched her leg out, curling her toes firmly into the edge of the locker across from her. She frowned in concentration, focusing on the lotion she has spread down her calf and ignored the tightness in her throat. “I was always curious to see where that would go.”

Jensen kept her silence for awhile, before sighing deep.

“None of that now,” Falguni said, grinning crookedly. “Trust me on this, okay? He didn’t pick you because he thinks you’re ugly or anything ridiculous like that. The rest of us would not waste any opportunity to tease the crap out him. Like any little guppy in pool of sharks, he chose the safest option. In doing so, he also managed to pick the _best_ option.”

“You think?”

“I _know_ , Jensen. You’re not wrong. I _am_ the strongest person on the squad, but that’s not the most important part of being a leader. I’m terrible at thinking about things, never mind _planning_ , and the rest of the squad is pretty much on the same page as me. You’re _so_ smart. The way you put things together makes my head spin. I know it’s just engines and stuff, but that’s how it starts, right? You see little things and understand how they all go together to be this whole big _other_ thing.”

“ _That_ , all sounds very smart to me,” Jensen said wryly.

Falguni felt her cheeks flush. “Maybe. A different kind of smart, then? Yours is perfect for being Lieutenant. I’m good at throwing myself at walls and making them break. Which works for _me_. It wouldn’t work for the squad; I’d help get us killed. You, well, I trust you to keep us living for as long as we’re meant to be.”

“I guess.” Jensen smiled and twisted her fingers in her lap. “I could be the Captain’s little sister.”

“Exactly. He probably needs one. Though don’t let him off the hook; even big brothers need some sisterly teasing. He’s not getting off free for making you upset.” Falguni bumped her shoulder. “Feel any better, Jensen?”

“Why don’t you call me Katie?”

Her toes slipped from the locker and slapped down on the floor in an obnoxiously loud way that she tried to play off by lifting her other leg up. 

Hmm. Well, probably because she can’t say it without it sounding like a love sick sigh. She’s tried, late a night in her bunk, when no one was around to hear her sounding it out. Because, once she starts to say it, she will never be able to stop. Because, saying it, will out all her poorly kept secrets. 

“Because-”

“Because, I would like it if you did,” Jensen rushed. “I would like it a lot.”

“I, well,” she stuttered and focused on lathering her leg. The silence was thick and heavy. Falgluni ducked her head so her hair fell between them, knowing her skin wouldn’t be able to dull the rush of color to her cheeks. She stilled when Jensen’s hand settled over hers.

“I would like it, if you called me Katie,” Jensen says much more quietly now. Falguni turns to face her, and that stupid light is still coming from somewhere in the stupid locker room, which makes no sense, because, _are there even windows in here?_ She’s never seen the red of Jensen’s hair so close before and she falls forward, ignoring her scrambling brain for the umpteenth time today _-wait, no, stop-_

Falguni’s not much for thinking. She’s much more about running flat out, smashing through walls, spiking fast over the net, landing hard and getting up quick. 

As her lips pressed to Jensen’s, _Katie’s_ , she realized this was her softest landing ever. The _best_ landing ever. 

She pulled back first, bringing her hand up to brush a curl away, smudging lotion on Katie’s cheek in the process. 

“I can do that,” she whispered. “I _will_ do that. _Katie_.” 

“I want you to know,” Katie said tremulously, “that I think you would make a wonderful Lieutenant. There is no one I would trust more to break down walls.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little rvb love : )


End file.
